Southern Television Has Infringed Privacy and Insulted Gay People

A TV program of Southern Television (whose name in Chinese is 城事特搜) has reported on LGBT issues for the last three consecutive nights, causing great dissatisfaction in the gay community.

A TV program of Southern Television (whose name in Chinese is 城事特搜) has reported on LGBT issues for the last three consecutive nights, causing great dissatisfaction in the gay community.

The program started with news of the significant increase in the rate of HIV infection amongst gay college students. The program came to the conclusion that because of the increasing use of dating applications (such as grindr and jack’d), there has been a dramatic increase in casual sex and one night stands, which has caused a surge in the HIV infection rate.

The reporter of the program, used the dating application and pretended to be a gay man. He dated another man and took photos and videos of the dating process without the approval of the man. Moreover, the program didn't protect tha man’s anonymity and broadcast the pictures on TV.

As members of LGBT community, we think that there are various reasons for the increased HIV infection rate of young people, which are far more complicated than the conclusion by Southern Television that "gays prefer casual sex or one night stands.”

In fact, one of the important reasons is the lack of campus education, and the fact that many young people do not know how to protect themselves, leading to the spread of the disease. Because of the lack of sexual safety knowledge, some young people may be infected when they have unprotected sex just once.

Southern Television should investigate how to make sex education more easily accessible in campus, so that more young people are no longer under threat of the sexual disease. This report was filled with prejudice and discrimination upon LGBT groups, which to me only displayed a lack of professionalism for the TV channel.

The report involved, took photos or videos without the consent of the parties concerned, and broadcast these to the public. I believe they are guilty of fraud and the infringement of privacy. As everyone knows, whether it is just a date or even a "one night stand", it is a private and individual aspect of life that should not be shared with the piblic. According to the regulations and laws of the PRC, the behaviour of the television violates the privacy of the concerned party and also the ethics of journalism.

Moreover, this group of reports repeatedly used words with subjective tones such as "promiscuous" "casual sex" to refer to LGBT people. We want to remind Southern Television that, if the TV program has to use the name of news to conduct discrimination upon sexual minority, it is the shame of the media.

We also want to tell the concerned party in the TV program that, the behaviour of this TV program not only violates the basic journalistic ethics, but also violates your right of privacy. You can complain to the news agency, or bring a lawsuit to the court, which can make the irresponsible media bear its legal responsibility.

If you need legal assistance, PFLAG will offer helpThe program started with news of the significant increase in the rate of HIV infection amongst gay college students. The program came to the conclusion that because of the increasing use of dating applications (such as grindr and jack’d), there has been a dramatic increase in casual sex and one night stands, which has caused a surge in the HIV infection rate.

Thank you to Zoe from Oximity for translating this article, Originally written by Ah Qiang of PFLAG China

A reporter of Southern Television has used gay dating applications and pretended to be a gay man. He dated another man and took photos and videos of the dating process without the approval of the man. Moreover, the program didn't protect tha man’s anonymity and broadcast the pictures on TV.

As members of LGBT community, we think that there are various reasons for the increased HIV infection rate of young people, which are far more complicated than the conclusion by Southern Television that "gays prefer casual sex or one night stands.”

In fact, one of the important reasons is the lack of campus education, and the fact that many young people do not know how to protect themselves, leading to the spread of the disease. Because of the lack of sexual safety knowledge, some young people may be infected when they have unprotected sex just once.

Southern Television should investigate how to make sex education more easily accessible in campus, so that more young people are no longer under threat of the sexual disease. This report was filled with prejudice and discrimination upon LGBT groups, which to me only displayed a lack of professionalism for the TV channel.

The report involved, took photos or videos without the consent of the parties concerned, and broadcast these to the public. I believe they are guilty of fraud and the infringement of privacy. As everyone knows, whether it is just a date or even a "one night stand", it is a private and individual aspect of life that should not be shared with the piblic. According to the regulations and laws of the PRC, the behaviour of the television violates the privacy of the concerned party and also the ethics of journalism.

Moreover, this group of reports repeatedly used words with subjective tones such as "promiscuous" "casual sex" to refer to LGBT people. We want to remind Southern Television that, if the TV program has to use the name of news to conduct discrimination upon sexual minority, it is the shame of the media.

We also want to tell the concerned party in the TV program that, the behaviour of this TV program not only violates the basic journalistic ethics, but also violates your right of privacy. You can complain to the news agency, or bring a lawsuit to the court, which can make the irresponsible media bear its legal responsibility.

If you need legal assistance, PFLAG will offer help. The video can be viewed here.